Nikole Hannah-Jones, a reporter for The New York Times and author of The 1619 Project, deleted a tweet Monday claiming that Americans "don't mind the open racism" after her post faced pushback.
Her remarks came after fellow New York Times reporter Matthew Rosenberg shared a tweet offering his thoughts about the controversy surrounding popular podcast host Joe Rogan, who critics say is using his platform to spread COVID "misinformation." Musician Niel Young and U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy were among those who recently called on Spotify to censor Rogan over his comments about the coronavirus.
"Joe Rogan is what he is. We in the media might want to spend more time thinking about why so many people trust him instead of us," Rosenberg tweeted.
Hannah-Jones then replied to the tweet, saying that the reason millions of Americans listen to Rogan is because of "open racism" and that her claim was "not a mystery."
"With respect, I don't get this. We need to understand why millions of Americans don't mind the open racism? It's not a mystery. Been reporting on it for years. So, what do we do with that?" Hannah-Jones wrote.
She later deleted the tweet but responded to other Twitter users who chimed in under Rosenberg's initial post.
After a user said that the word "racism" is used in today's age to mean that a person dislikes another instead of the true meaning of the word, Hannah-Jones shared a compilation video of Rogan saying the n-word.
The user then said that, even if Rogan did harbor racist views, he still maintains the right to his platform, to which Hannah-Jones agreed.
Agreed. He has the right to say whatever he wants. Spotify has the right to platform him or not. I’ve never argued otherwise. My original comment was in response to tweet that people like him because of what they are not getting from “media” and what that is, exactly.
— Ida Bae Wells (@nhannahjones) January 31, 2022
The 1619 Project author also said in a Sunday tweet that is still up that Rogan "dabbles in racist tropes" and that his supporters are "fine with that because apparently the opposite of woke is racist?"